Who Says You Have To? You GET to
Why are you still working that job you loathe so much?
Because I have to. I need that paycheck each month.
Why do you let your asshole boss treat you so disrespectfully?
Because I have to, otherwise she’ll fire me.
Why did you get a mortgage, and think it was a good idea to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt for the next 40 years?
Because I have to. That’s what everyone else tells me I should be doing.
Why do you live in a town that you’ve long since grown out of?
Because I have to. My job is here, my house is here, my family are here, my life is here.
Why are you still friends with people from high school who you don’t even like anymore?
Because I have to be. I can’t turn my back on a decade of friendship. And I’m too old to be making new ones.
Because I have to.
Because I have to.
Who says you have to?
Who says you have to go to college, get yourself into a swamp of debt, so you can get a job you don’t even really like?
Our world has changed. Everything you want to know can be learned from the comfort of your bed, with a wifi connection. Your parents didn’t have that luxury, but you do. Are you making the most of it? Are you thinking for yourself? And are you following your soul, or are you following the crowd?
Who says you have to stay in a career you chose last year, or even ten years ago? Who says you have to put your head down and stick it out until you can retire, and move to the Bahamas? And who says it’s far too risky to leave the security and comfort of your “well” paying job?
Life is too short to waste it away in a job that sucks the life out of your soul. Life isn’t meant to be a slog until you retire, and can actually start living.
Here’s a wild thought: maybe life is for living right now.
If you hate your job so much – quit. Can’t afford to? Sell your car. Sell your house. Build up a Fuck Off Fund for yourself so you’ll have plenty to keep you going while you’re unemployed and enjoying the best year of your life travelling through Asia.
Start a business. Fail. Start another one.
Try a bunch of new things you’ve always wanted to try.
You’ll learn and grow ten times more than if you stay doing what you already know.
Who says you have to find a partner, get married, and have kids?
Just because that’s what your parents did, and that’s what everyone around you is doing; it doesn’t mean you have to. It doesn’t mean that life choice is right for you.
So many people claim that pro-creating is what makes life meaningful, then they use their kids as yet another excuse why they can’t follow their dreams and live the life they truly desire. But they chose their life – nobody forced them to choose.
Nobody is forcing you to choose either.
So choose for you. Choose selfishly.
Because if you don’t take care of yourself and your needs first, you’ll become a shadow of who you really are.
Who says you have to borrow shit loads from the bank and buy a house?
I don’t care what anybody says – unless you’re renting it out and making a healthy profit, your house is not an asset, it’s a liability. People want you to believe otherwise so demand continues to rise, and prices can be pushed up. The people profiting are the banks, not you. There’s no shame to be renting in your thirties. There’s no rush to get onto the ladder. There are no have to’s here.
Who says you have to blow $30k on a wedding?
If you really want to, and you have the money to spare – go for it. But if you don’t, then why are you doing this? To compete with friends? To show people you’re not poor? Because TV and movies have made you think this is what everybody does?
Blowing money you don’t have on one day of your life, which you’ll probably be too stressed to even enjoy, only means you’re committing yourself to working a shitty job for some asshole you hate for X more years than you need to.
Who says you have to have a wedding at all? After all, marriage was only invented to control women and property back in the day, and make sure men had all the power.
Fuck that.
Who says Mondays need to be so shitty?
If you find yourself dreading Mondays, so much so you can’t even really enjoy Saturday evening because you know the next day is Sunday, and the day after that will be Monday urgggghhhhh – what are you doing?
Seriously, I’m asking you to ask yourself.
Life is not meant to feel like this. Friday is not better than any other day. You’re not supposed to feel trapped five days a week, and on parole the other two. This is not just the way it is. Maybe for your parents and your grandparents, but not you.
You’re blessed to have been born in this time. Don’t waste this opportunity.
Nobody says you have to.
Nobody has a gun to your head.
And nobody is forcing you to do anything.
You don’t have to.
Your choices are your own.
Choose differently, or quit moaning.
Because you don’t have to. You get to.